Just seeing the sunsets here greatly affected me. The sunflowers in the countryside right outside of Florence were so beautiful. Everything reflected and radiated beauty.

There have been so many amazing things in front of me and I constantly feel positive emotions taking me over as I look at this vast beauty. It’s so difficult to put all of it into words because words cannot describe what I am seeing. I have been here for two weeks and I am already feel so many changes in my life. Liberation and complete independence are two are them for sure. Oklahoma has always been my little comfort zone of a place and the fact that I stop and tell myself “hey, you’re living in Europe right now,” is a pretty great feeling! I traveled to Florence this week with the group. My favorite part has been the architecture. I told a friend that if we were to put just ONE Italian building in the middle of Oklahoma City, it would completely change the dynamic of the city. Just one. No offense Oklahoma. It’s just that everywhere you look, there is amazing architecture. Every building and statue is unique in it’s own way. The people are beautiful and I feel free here. I feel completely liberated and that I can be anybody I want to be. Or is it that I feel that I can be myself? I think this is part of the whole “finding myself” piece in this experience that I was confident I would come across.

One of the greatest moment for me was walking around the corner of the street and seeing the Duomo. It is an enormous cathedral in Florence, not only large in size, but beauty beyond belief. The colors and detail of the building was magnificent. It was unlike any building I had ever seen. Every single crevice of the building was unique with the many statues and curvatures.

Physics was never my favorite subject and I applaud anyone who can master it, let alone enjoy practicing it. I am happy to say that my physics days are over, but I am also happy to say that I was able to visit a museum in Florence where I was able to learn about the physicists behind the science that we learn about today. Although it seems a little weird, I got to see the fingers of Galileo (pictures attached). It amazed me how one man’s finger (of great significance) can be conserved for so long!! These fingers came from a man who discovered much of what we now know of the world we live in today. I grew appreciation for those two small entities in the museum that day.

And then there was Dave…Okay, we are not really on nickname basis because we only met that day. He was almost as tall as the ceiling. I’m referring to the Statue of David. You know, the statue that the famous Michelangelo built with his own two hands. I never envisioned this piece of work being so large and being so detailed. It was astonishing! It was just amazing. No words can even describe what I saw in front of my eyes. Seeing it in pictures does not do justice. Seeing it from across the room, from afar, does not either. I was only feet away from David, and seeing the detail of one single eye ball was MAGNIFICENT.

Florence has definitely made a huge impact on me. Just seeing the sunsets here greatly affected me. The sunflowers in the countryside right outside of Florence were so beautiful. Everything reflected and radiated beauty. Sounds cliché, but I could definitely see myself spending a significant amount of time here in the future. Luckily, I get to return here next week for our free weekend. Our bus to the Amalfi Coast leaves from Florence and I can only imagine what it has in store for me!